Journal 8

2. Keep cool: it will all be one a hundred years hence.

This aphorism means that we should not become stressed about simple things because in a hundred years, none of it will matter. I think that this is a very good saying because people often worry too much about things that only matter for a short amount of time and end up not being happy. If people followed this more, than more people would be happy and enjoy their life.

8. In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.

Emerson is saying that people shouldn’t be hesitant and that if they want to do something, than they should do it. I agree with this because people are

13. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

This aphorism is saying that life is about taking chances and seeing what happens when you do certain things. It’s also saying that the more chances you take in life, the better your life will be. I also agree with this to an extent because if you take too many chances than your life might not work out and cause you to be unhappy.

Journal 7

In the poem “To a Waterfowl” the author is very optimistic about life and is didactic. It is saying that you should go wherever God takes you. The speaker is saying how the bird is led by God. It migrates south for the winter, but it does not know why. “The Raven” is more negative and does not have an overall message. The bird in this poem has the special ability to speak and it is not an innate ability. At the end of the poem the speaker is more depressed than he was before he talked to the raven. He found out that he will never see the love of his life again. The first poem can be described as calm, harmonious, and rational. “The Raven” is more negative and imaginative. The speaker imagines that the raven is speaking to him. A similarity is that both of the poems are referencing birds. The overall message of “The Raven” is that life does not always work out the way you want it to, while the message in “To A Waterfowl” is that God will lead you through life and everything will work out.